‘Tennessee Three’ State Rep. Gloria Johnson Challenging Sen. Marsha Blackburn in 2024

Tennessee state Reps. Justin Pearson (L), Gloria Johnson (C), and Justin Jones speak with members of the press after meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office in Washington on April 24, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Seeking to capitalize on the media attention received this year after nearly being expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives as a member of the “Tennessee Three,” Democrat state Rep. Gloria Johnson launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Ms. Johnson kicked off her campaign with an official launch in Nashville on Tuesday afternoon, following a smaller announcement in her hometown of Knoxville, ending months of speculation on whether she would run.

Ms. Johnson will attempt to unseat first-term Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the first female senator in the state’s history. Tennessee hasn’t been represented by a Democrat in the U.S. Senate since 1995.

In 2018, Ms. Blackburn defeated popular former Democrat Gov. Phil Bredesen, the last Democrat to win statewide office in Tennessee, by nearly 11 points. Bredesen won two terms as governor in the state, carrying all of the state’s 95 counties in his reelection campaign, a sign of the shifting tides in Tennessee politics over the past decade.

‘Tennessee Three’ Fame

Ms. Johnson and two other Democrat state representatives were the subject of controversy and expulsion votes after they disrupted proceedings of the state House of Representatives in March to call for gun control just days after a shooting at a Nashville Christian school killed three children and three adults.

She was the only member of the “Tennessee Three” to survive expulsion, remaining in the chamber by only one vote. Despite being spared expulsion, she enjoyed the same benefits as the two expelled lawmakers, including countless media appearances, invitations to the White House, and a private audience with the president and vice president.

Tennessee state Reps. Gloria Johnson (L), Justin Jones (C), and Justin Pearson arrive at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., on April 7, 2023, where they met with Vice President Kamala Harris. Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP

At her campaign launch in Nashville, she was introduced by one of those members, Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville. The other member of the three, Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis, is a co-chair of her campaign alongside a Democrat state senator.

Women’s Rights a Focus of Campaign

Ms. Johnson, in her remarks in Nashville, drew focus to women’s rights, standing in front of a women’s suffrage monument as she spoke. There, she claimed that Tennessee women have been stripped of their equality under Ms. Blackburn’s watch.

She went on to criticize Ms. Blackburn’s stance on abortion and her voting record on issues such as the Violence Against Women Act and equal pay.

“We’ve got to talk about women’s rights,” she told the crowd. “We’ve got to talk about the fact that in Tennessee, women are no longer equal. … Marsha Blackburn wants to see a federal ban on abortion. Yet she’s talking about freedom? Freedom for who? Not us.”

She went on to criticize Ms. Blackburn as not supporting women and only having an interest in “billionaires and corporations.”

“We have a senator who doesn’t stand with women, ever. [She] votes against the Violence [Against] Women’s Act, votes against equal pay, votes against women constantly. Tennessee deserves better. Hardworking Tennesseeans need someone. These families need someone that will fight for them. Not just the billionaires and corporations and the wealthy and well connected.”

Gun Control

The representative took a firm stance on gun legislation, advocating for new gun laws, and spoke out against the idea of arming teachers, saying, “We want to prevent guns from ever getting on schoolhouse property.”

In a video announcement released Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Johnson opens the campaign ad with security footage from the March 27 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, in which the shooter blasts through the glass doors before walking inside.

“When will enough be enough,” Ms. Johnson asked in her video, following the scenes of the attack on The Covenant School. “When will we elect leaders with the courage to stand up for us? Instead of a bunch of bullies and cowards who only do what their party says.”

She said she “knows fighting for justice has a cost,” stating she had to sleep in the hallway instead of her bedroom as a child to “avoid being shot” because her “dad had the courage to bring the KKK to justice.”

“And when my friends and I believed mothers and fathers who lost children at Covenant deserved a voice and we fought for it—they expelled them,” she said in her video. “I’m not a politician, but I did beat one to become a state House member. Those politicians, they don’t like me much, because I speak my mind.”

Audrey Hale points a gun inside The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. Nashville Police Department via The Epoch Times

In her smaller announcement event Tuesday morning, Ms. Johnson stood in front of Central High School in Knoxville, a school where she once taught.

She recalled a traumatic day in 2008 when a student was killed in a shooting at the school, adding a personal touch to her staunch support for gun control legislation.

“I'll never forget that day sitting in my classroom,” she said. “As the kids were in the cafeteria having breakfast before bell, I heard a lot of screaming. And I looked out my window and there were kids running down the hill, towards my classroom, screaming with terror on their faces. They had just seen one of their classmates shot in the cafeteria.”

Jones Joins Johnson

Mr. Jones fervently supported Ms. Johnson, applauding what he called her long-standing commitment to fighting for justice, her support for medicaid expansion, higher wages, and her stance on gun control.

“People are sick and tired and they’re looking for fighters like Gloria Johnson,” he said.

“Gloria has stood for our children in the school house, for all Tennesseans in the state house, and we know that [she] will be a fighter for everyday people in the U.S. Senate,“ he said. ”We know that there are those who are occupying seats now who stand for the powerful as opposed to the poor. There are those who stand for special interests as opposed to the interests of everyday citizens. And today, we send a clear message to all of them—we see you on Twitter—goodbye.”

Blackburn Campaign Calls Johnson ‘Radical Socialist’

The Blackburn campaign was quick to respond to Ms. Johnson’s announcement, with spokesperson Abigail Sigler branding Johnson as a “radical socialist” and a “puppet” for national Democrats.

“It’s no surprise that radical socialist Gloria Johnson decided to jump into the race at the urging of liberals in Washington, joining Marquita Bradshaw and others in the race for the Democratic nomination,” she said in a statement. “State Rep. Johnson is as woke as they come, and she would be a puppet for Joe Biden, the Squad, and Chuck Schumer in the Senate. While Senator Blackburn is working hard to fight back against Biden’s woke agenda, State Rep. Johnson is pushing that divisive, destructive agenda here in Tennessee.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) speaks at a news conference on the Supreme Court at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on July 19, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The statement went on to say that Tennesseans deserve a Senator who is “committed to fighting for … conservative values.”

In a video statement and call for fundraising, Ms. Blackburn further drew a line between herself as a conservative and painted Johnson as far left and “woke.”

“I officially have an opponent,” she said. “She’s a far left Democrat. She’s as woke as they come and she knows all the liberal bigwigs in Tennessee. Frankly, my opponent is a direct threat to our way of life. So I’m asking you directly to make a meaningful donation to defeat her.”

Ms. Johnson is joined in the Democrat primary by the 2020 Democrat nominee for Tennessee’s other U.S. Senate seat, Marquita Bradshaw, who lost to now-Sen. Bill Hagerty in a landslide victory in 2020.